High school track: Foes have trouble keeping up with Jones

By Harold Raker
The Daily Item

May 16, 2008 05:39 am

— Hannah Jones expected another season of chasing teammate Chloe Albright.
But, when an ankle injury sidelined Albright for the season, Jones not only became the best hurdler for the juggernaut that is the Lewisburg girls track and field team -- she became the top hurdler in the Valley.
And, to the dismay of Lewisburg's opponents, Jones is a sophomore.
Jones has the area's best time in both the 100-meter high and 300-meter intermediate hurdles at 15.89 and 45.83 seconds, respectively. She is the No. 2 seed in both events, behind Montoursville standout Tesa McKibben, for Saturday's District 4 Class AA meet.
Jones, daughter of former Lewisburg runner Heidi Ziegler and brother of current Dragons' distance runner Peter Jones, has come a long way since her introduction to the hurdles as an eighth-grader.
"We had a unit in track and field and I tried the hurdles and thought they were really fun, so I ended up sticking with them last year," she said.
But they were also scary.
"I remember us standing around with a bunch of girls just being really scared to run up to them and we were all like you go first, no you go first.' Eventually, I went over them and loved it," she said.
When Albright went down before the season started, Jones knew that more pressure would be put on her to win races and score points for the team.
"I did feel like I had to fill that gap, but my coach told me not to try to make results and just focus on my races and do my best," she said. "So that's what I've been doing and it's been working out pretty well. I'm pretty happy with my results this year."
Albright is happy for her, too.
"I knew she had it in her all the time. She was always on my heels last year, but I think this year, she just needed to step up and she's doing a great job in the hurdles, and her times are good," Albright said. "I'm really proud of her."
Jones said, "She definitely taught me a lot last year as a freshman, a lot of what I know about hurdling."
Lewisburg coach Jonathan Clark couldn't be happier with how things worked out, unless by some miracle, Albright had been able to return and join Jones in the hurdles races.
"Chloe was so good last year and Hannah's improvement last year was kind of hidden. But if you paid close attention to what she was doing through the course of the year, she pushed Chloe in both events," Clark said.
"Chloe was that good that she was able to cover her up, but (Jones) was placing regularly in the bigger meets as a freshman," the coach said.
Clark added that the coaches planned to put more responsibility on Jones this year, even had Albright not been sidelined, and had made her a regular on the Green Dragons' 1,600-meter relay team.
"She has handled that real well as a sophomore. She was ready to step in. Chloe is an awesome, talented athlete who hurdles; Hannah is a hurdler. She looks great going over the hurdles and she picked up the technique quickly last year and really improved."
It is that technique that has given Jones her edge, Clark said.
"She may not be as fast as some girls in the 100 and as fast as Chloe in the open 400, but her technique makes up for that. She is an outstanding athlete," Clark said.
Jones, who was introduced to track by going along with her grandfather, Seth Ziegler, when she was a young girl, expected to spend another season running second to Albright in the hurdles.
"That's how it was last year, so I just figured both of us might improve this year with our times and if I would be second to her, my times would hopefully improve," she said.
And she achieved another goal by making it onto the 1,600 relay team. She was an alternate last season and hoped to become a regular. Jones runs the lead leg of the event, and Lewisburg is seeded first for the district meet. She likes running the first leg.
"I like being able to get out for the team. It puts more pressure on me and it helps me do better when I have that pressure."
Saturday, she will take on McKibben for the second time in a week, and she looks forward to the challenge.
Even though both the winner and any top-eight place-winner meeting the state qualifying standard (16.01 in the 100s; 47.64 in the 300s) will advance to the state meet in Shippensburg, Jones said she will take no chances.
"I never thought about it that way. I am not going to back down just because I think I'm going to states being second. I'm going to be pushing myself. I'm going to try (to win), but I'll be happy with a PR (personal record) and just to keep my seed," she said.
That's what she did in the Susquehanna Valley Conference meet last week at Shikellamy High School, finishing second to McKibben in both hurdles races.
Jones also plays field hockey and plans to compete in indoor track next summer. She has also played basketball and soccer.
She says her favorites sports are track and field hockey.
"They are both so fun, and they are so different," she said.
And the Green Dragons are so happy to have her.

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